


Leaving It All Behind

by Sreeder



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Badass Sokka (Avatar), Badass Zuko (Avatar), Dark, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Gaang (Avatar) as Family, Gaang is like woah, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Prison, Protective Sokka (Avatar), Protective Zuko (Avatar), Slow Burn, Sokka (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Sokka isnt there so things go different for the gaang, Torture, Zhao (Avatar) Is An Asshole, Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, but not really, super slow burn, zuko is trying
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-21 19:47:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30026919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sreeder/pseuds/Sreeder
Summary: The attack on the Northern Water Tribe goes differently, Aang and the ocean spirit don’t destroy the entire Fire Nation fleet, only most of them.Zhao escapes, taking Sokka and a few other Water Tribe men as prisoners. Knowing Sokka is traveling with the Avatar he gets sent to Zhao’s “special prison camp” that is hidden near the Earth Kingdom colonies.Sokka gets a taste of the real war, not the war that he thinks he knows from traveling with the Avatar. While Zhao’s prisoner, he struggles to survive the inhuman conditions. Alone and thought to be dead, he feels himself slowly losing hope.Seeing a familiar face brings back his hope, even if that face is the scarred Prince of the Fire Nation.Sokka and Zuko come together to survive and end up depending on each other for a lot more than they ever thought possible.
Relationships: Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Sokka, Toph Beifong & Zuko, Zhao & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 42
Kudos: 70





	1. The Moon is Gone

# Leaving It All Behind

## Chapter 1: The Moon is Gone

### 

The battle between the Northern Water Tribe and Admiral Zhao’s Naval fleet was a long and gruesome fight, there were many losses on both sides. The Fire Nation was ultimately defeated thanks to the Avatar merging with the Ocean Spirit, resulting in catastrophic damage to the Fire Nation’s Navy fleet. 

Unfortunately, many of the ship’s breached the great ice wall before that happened, allowing their armed soldiers to storm into the frozen city. Sokka was assigned to a secret infiltration mission with the most annoying person in the entire Northern Water Tribe, Hahn. Lucky for Sokka, he and Hahn had a rather heated disagreement, which resulted in his immediate removal from the stupid secret mission he never wanted to be apart of in the first place. 

Instead, he was assigned to the outer wall on the western side, he was stationed at the base of the great ice wall with the rest of the non bending warriors. Sokka never thought of himself as a non bender, but his time spent in the Northern Water Tribe was a constant reminder of his inability to water bend. Their society was focused on the division of not only men and women but also those who were given the blessing of bending and those who were not. 

Even with all the warrior training that Sokka had, and his exceptional boomerang skills, (which he insisted was a better skill to have then stupid water bending) he was cast aside. While his sister was given the sacred assignment of keeping Princess Yue safe, along with the Avatar. 

As the Fire Nation laid siege to the Northern Water Tribe, his sister and Aang were safely tucked away in the Spirit Oasis while Sokka stood outside on the ice staring up at the massive white wall.

He could faintly make out the water benders that were posted on top of the wall, they were the first line of defense. Their only occupation was to prevent the enemy from breaching the wall and keeping the Fire Nation cruisers out to sea. If they failed, Sokka and his non bending tribesmen would be there to strike down the invading enemy. 

Sokka would never admit to the other warriors that he was cold, honestly, he wasn’t sure if he was shivering or if his limbs were trembling in fear. As strong as he pretended to be for Katara when dad left, he carried heavy baggage full of doubt and fear. After his mother died, responsibility was shoved onto him like a full grown polar dog laying across his shoulders. He had to be a man, and he was responsible for protecting his little sister. 

Even now, he felt like he should be in the Spirit Oasis with her and Aang, helping fulfill his promise to his dad by keeping Katara safe. 

He wondered if his dad would even care if the _great_ Northern Water Tribe was invaded, after they abandoned the South when the Fire Nation began raiding their villages. After that, the relationship between the two tribes became very strained. The North has always, and will always, focus their energies on staying out of the war. Even if it resulted in the almost complete annihilation of their ‘sister tribe’. Stripped of their benders, and the only men left in the village sailing off to war, the South has been crumbling into nothing for years.

The North did nothing to help.

If Katara were hurt, would he be able to face his dad and tell him, “I was defending the wall, dad.” Would he give Sokka that _look_ , the one that showcased the disappointed that his worlds would never speak. His dad loved him, this much he knew, but his dad has been disappointed in him before. Shaking his head, Sokka knew he couldn’t afford to allow himself to be distracted with those types of thoughts right now, that type of distraction could cost him his life. 

Shifting his feet uncomfortably, his lungs were burning with every freezing breath he took, the soot coated icy flurries were burning him from the inside. That’s just like the stupid Fire Nation, they even tainted innocent ice flurries in the wake of their destruction.

Different parts of the city had been infiltrated already by the Fire Nation soldiers, but Sokka’s particular section was still intact. It was relatively quiet where he was stationed, but the sound of a war being fought was off in the distance. The men screamed out their battle cries as the hissing sound of fire and ice filled his ears. It was a distinct sound when a flaming projectile hit the great ice wall, it hissed like a tiger seal back home. The steam it created would cast a light mist around the impact sight, it was the same when a fire bender threw their fire at the Water Tribe men, the hiss indicated the attack missed.

When the attack didn’t miss, well… there was a different type of screaming. 

The burning of his lungs, accompanied with the pounding of his heart in his ears, was enough to distract him from the lingering dread of the invasion, and possible upcoming battle. Looking at the two other warriors stationed in the same section, he could see the same lingering fear in their crystal blue eyes. 

Both men were older than Sokka, _actual warriors_ as he was informed, making him believe that maybe this entire situation was only to humor Sokka. Was it only because of his friendship with Aang that he was even assigned to a position in the city's defense? If that were the case, he would be glad to abandon his post and join his sister and beautiful, perfect, amazing Princess Yue in the warm oasis. 

Before those negative thoughts could fester into something more, a loud cracking noise could be heard just overhead, accompanied by screaming. To his horror men began falling from the top of the wall, it almost looked as if some of them jumped. Sokka’s deep blue eyes shifted to the now cracked ice wall, only to see the ominous bow of a massive metal ship crashing through the thick ice, followed by a second ship. 

The water benders that landed on the ground only survived because of their magic water, bending themselves ice ramps that allowed their tumbling bodies to slide next to Sokka. The water benders immediately began shooting streams of water towards the spots where the Fire Nation ships were penetrating. Icing the water, they were using all their energies to keep the bow from breaking all the way through. 

If the ship fully penetrated through, it would open up, and dozens of angry fire benders would be unleashed into the city. Right where Sokka and the other men were standing, a hand to hand battle seemed unavoidable at this point. Even with all the efforts from the Water Tribe benders, the ships were not slowing down. 

One of the men, that Sokka recognized from Katara’s lessons, (the only one or two times that Sokka actually wandered over to watch), grabbed his shoulders.

He was older, probably the eldest of the group, his grey and brown hair was tied back in a wolf's tail and he braided the sides back. His face was leathered from years of intense training and sun exposure, his eyebrows were thick and grey, with wild hairs shot up in all directions. The man’s dark blue eyes stayed steady as he stared at Sokka, “get ready, we have a fight on our hands.”

All Sokka could do was nod, his voice was trapped in his burning throat. He tried to swallow, but all that did was remind him that his mouth was bone dry just like his throat. Reaching behind him he took his boomerang in his shaking hands, his entire body trembling like a scared polar dog puppy. In this moment Sokka wished he was stronger, more viscous, ready to kill at a moment's notice.

But that was never who Sokka was, it took him years to get comfortable killing, even though it was a fundamental and necessary part of living in the Southern Water Tribe. He remembered his first kill, it was a mouse-hare that he caught in one of the snares he placed outside of the village. Bato taught him all about how to build snares and the best spots to place them. 

Sokka loved inventions, no matter how primitive, and a snare was a clever way to hunt for food without actually stalking and killing your prey. Bato assured the young Sokka that most animals that got themselves caught in a snare were dead before they were ever found by the hunter. Sokka was so excited, he remembered the morning he was going to check his first placement of snares, the dawn was just starting to pour it’s soft orange light onto his icy world. 

The ice reflected the colors, casting a warm hue over the usually cool toned world Sokka grew up in and loved. He took his whale bone knife, pulling on his parka he slipped out of the igloo before anyone cracked an eye open. It had snowed the night before, making the journey out of the village a bit more difficult for a child. He was small, as were most kids his age, he hiked up his legs as far as he could lift them and took wide strides through the fresh snow. 

The sun continued to rise as he pulled himself through the snow, the soft warm light faded into a bright morning. What felt like forever, Sokka finally reached his first snare, to his utter disappointment it was empty. His hope shattered like the fragile and fleeting feelings children carried around with them, quickly replaced by excitement for the next trap.

Empty.

Empty.

Empty.

The last trap was further from town, Bato told him that it was unlikely that a snare this far out and so visible would catch anything. But Sokka insisted on placing his snare in that particular spot, he told the older man that he had a good feeling.

He was right, caught in the snare by it’s slender ankle was a mouse-hare. He remembered seeing it lying there in the snow, a few flurries resting on it’s soft white fur, with just the smallest flecks of brown in its fur as the seasons were changing. He approached slowly, wanting to remember every feature about the small creature, it was his first catch as a hunter. 

As Sokka approached to his surprise the animal moved, pulling away from the boy’s small hand. Sokka’s heart leaped into his throat, the surprise from the sudden movement sent the boy stumbling back, losing his balance and falling back into the snow. His butt hit the ground as his hands held tight to the whale bone knife he was still carrying. 

The mouse-hare’s wide black eyes stared at him as it’s tiny pink nose wiggled with every panicked breath it took. The whiskers twitched as Sokka began to pull himself back to his feet, both hands planted firmly on the knife as he approached his prey once again. There was another sudden movement as the trapped animal tried to make a break for it, hoping to disappear back into the tundra. But it wasn't so lucky, and Sokka could see the snare digging deeper into the sling of it’s fragile ankle, drawing out bright red blood. 

Sokka was accustomed to blood, blood was a part of hunting, it spilled as the tribe gathered together to prepare and clean each kill. Blood always looked so red against the soft white snow, but this was a different type of blood, this was fresh. This blood was still flowing through the very much alive mouse-hare, this blood was on Sokka’s small hands, and he would draw more before the kill was finished. He knew the longer he hesitated the more pain the small mouse-hare would endure, which was not what Sokka wanted from his first kill. 

The first rule of hunting was never prolong your kills suffering or you risk upsetting the spirits. 

Moving towards the mouse-hare again he grabbed the frightened animal by it’s long ears, pulling the head back to reveal its throat. Bringing his knife to the soft flesh, Sokka closed his eyes as he cut across the vulnerable throat. The blood was dark red, unlike the bright blood he saw splattered in the snow after the tribe finished preparing a kill. This was a thick, deep red fluid that poured onto the snow, soaking into the ice by Sokka’s feet. 

The animal twitched a few times before going limp, it was done. His first kill, part of him regretted it immediately, and the other part brought a small smile to his face. 

It was so odd to have such extremely opposite emotions about the same situation. 

Releasing the snare he grabbed the back legs and carried the now dead mouse-hare back to his igloo, imagining his dad’s excitement when he showed him what he did. Even though the back of his mind still wished that the last trap had been empty too…

Someone yelled his name, and Sokka’s mind switched back to the present day, the day that the Fire Nation was invading his sister tribe. Looking around, Sokka saw the Water Tribe men had moved back, further away from the wall, he felt someone strong grab the back of his parka and yank him backwards. 

Unlike when he was a child, he stayed on his feet, stumbling backwards until he stood aligned with the other Water Tribe men. There were now 8 of them, standing in the snow, weapons ready as the two ships crashed through the wall. The benders worked together to protect themselves and their comrades from the massive chunks of ice that rained down around them. 

The metal ships sliced through their icy defenses like it was parchment, and to Sokka’s horror the ship opened up; like the massive jaws of an indestructible beast, spilling out angry Fire Nation soldiers. Sokka knew this wasn’t going to be like his first animal kill, these men were not going to stare at him defenseless while he slit their throat. 

These men weren’t going to look up at him with black eyes and wiggling noses, these men were going to fight back to the very end. 

Sokka lifted his boomerang and picked his target, pulling his arm back and releasing it into the mid morning air. The sun was finally high enough in the sky that they were no longer trapped under the shadow of the ice wall, he could see the red and black armor of the enemy clearly. 

They wore helmets and face plates so thankfully he wouldn’t have to look into the eyes of any of the men, he was struggling enough with the thought of killing a person, he didn’t want to see their eyes. 

His mom taught him and Katara that a person’s eyes were the windows to the soul. She told them that you can see a man’s past and what type of person they are, just by looking into their eyes. Sokka always remembered that lesson, and he was proven how true it was over and over again. First lesson was when he looked at his sister, her bright blue eyes were soft but she had a hardness inthem that only appeared there after their mother was killed. 

His father had stern, compassionate eyes, his eyes were always hard like ice, but would melt whenever he looked at him and his sister. Aang was another example, his grey eyes were young and wild, full of happiness and wonder. But his eyes held something strong and wise behind them, they showed that when needed, he could let go of the child and be the Avatar the world needed. 

Seeing that balance in Aang’s eyes was the deciding factor for Sokka, when he saw the young air bender being dragged away by the Fire Nation, back home in the South Pole. Sokka knew he had to rescue Aang, which is why he prepared the canoe before Katara had even decided what she wanted to do. A person’s eyes said a lot about them, his mother was right.

He missed his mom.

Fire met water as the two worlds collided on the ice, screams on both sides. Sokka saw his boomerang make contact with his target and the man toppled forwards, out cold. 

Another fire bender approached Sokka on his left, throwing wild thrusts of fire in his direction. Sokka raised his club and swung towards the attacks, as the fire approached him the swift movements were enough to break up the blast’s flames before they could come in contact with his skin.

He liked to avoid being burnt. 

The Fire Nation soldier kept moving towards Sokka, his menacing armor was intimidating. The soldier advanced quickly, his foot placement surprisingly steady on the ice as he approached, arms forward; he prepared for another attack. 

Sokka felt the heat before he saw the flames, his right arm was covered in fire, as his parka began to crumble under the spreading fire. Another Fire Nation soldier was approaching him on his right while he was distracted with the attacks coming from his left. Swinging his boomerang to the right, Sokka dropped to the ground trying to roll out the fire on his arm. Lucky enough, the small fire was unable to eat through his outer layers, leaving his skin underneath smooth and unburnt. 

Before he could raise back to his feet the bender on his left was over him, in the few seconds it took for the man to raise his hand to attack there was a warm liquid splattering on Sokka’s face.

Blinking, he saw the two large ice spikes protruding out of his enemies chest, fresh warm blood spilled from his open wounds as the ice melted to water and was pulled back to be used for another attack. Sokka was frozen in the moment, watching the armored figure drop to his knees and then fall forward. His helmet grazed Sokka’s leg before the body fully hit the ice. If it wasn’t for the more experienced Water Tribe water bender coming to his aid, he knew he would be dead right now. 

Unable to take his eyes off the dead man, he completely forgot about the Fire Nation soldier to his right who was also trying to light him on fire. 

Sokka was still lying on the floor, almost killed by the now dead man at his feet and letting his guard down to an attack from his right. 

Blinking, he knew he had to get up.

Get up.

Get up.

“GET UP!”

Sokka felt strong arms pulling him to his feet, shoving something with a familiar shape into his hands. 

“This saved your life, don’t lose it! Stay focused!” A man’s voice was yelling at him. Sokka kept blinking, trying his hardest to bring moisture back to his dry eyes. Slowly he was able to feel the focus return to his sight as he looked down at the boomerang in his hands. 

He remembered throwing it at the soldier on his right just before the man on his left made it to him. Now he was dead.

The boomerang disabled the man on his right, saving his life.

Looking around he saw the battle continuing to unfold, blue and red, ice and blood, death and life. It was a nightmare, but he was living it. There would be no waking up in a panic, this was his reality and he was still alive, but if he didn’t get his shit together he was going to die. 

Seeing one of the water benders, whose name he didn’t know, being overwhelmed by 3 Fire Nation soldiers; he thrust his boomerang once again. Running forward, he watched his attack hit one of the attackers over his head, falling to the ground Sokka’s boomerang hit the snow a few feet away. 

Running faster now, Sokka grabbed his weapon out of the snow as he watched the man he knocked down stumble to his feet again. His helmet knocked sideways, Sokka watched as the man grabbed both sides and pulled it off his head. The soldier’s long dark hair was disheveled, and the pale skin of his face was bruising from where the boomerang struck. 

Turning to face him, Sokka saw his amber eyes.

They weren’t angry.

They were scared.

He was young, but older than Sokka was, he shifted to a familiar fire bending stance but didn’t strike. 

Even with the battle unfolding around them it felt as if time stopped, everyone faded away and left only Sokka and this unknown Fire Nation soldier. Sokka held tight to his boomerang, the sharp side facing out. He planned on making it quick, but now the man was facing him without his helmet and was not going to lie down and accept death.

There was determination in the young solider’s face, and Sokka knew… It was kill or be killed. 

There was an unsaid, mutual understanding that this was war and one of them was going to walk away and one of them was going to die. Sokka couldn’t help but think if there wasn’t a war and they met under different circumstances, could they have been friends? Did he like to hunt? Did this man have a dad who he respected and loved? Did he have a pretty girl at home that was waiting for him to come back? Did he also have an annoying little sister?

Was he really willing to die for the Fire Lord and this pointless war?

Twisting his hand tighter around his weapon the soldier made the first move. 

They always did.

The man sent a wave of fire in Sokka’s direction before taking a few steps forward. Sokka moved just out of the range of attack, throwing himself to the icy ground before rolling back to his feet. Turning to the side he threw his boomerang once again, just in time to dodge two fire blasts. 

Sokka watched as the enemy moved closer as the boomerang struck, stopping him dead in his tracks. His amber eyes shot wide open as the sharp side of the Water Tribe boy’s weapon collided with his skull. 

The soldier stumbled to his knees until his upper body slumped onto the slick ice floor, his eyes closed, blood seeping from the wound on the back of his head. Sokka didn't hesitate, moving quickly he found himself standing over the Fire Nation man. Grabbing his boomerang and wiping the blood off it’s blade, Sokka was relieved that this fight didn’t last any longer, that is, until the man stirred.

Slowly his arms begin to move, in an attempt to push himself up and off of the freezing ice. Sokka saw his moment, just like when he was a child on the ice and that adorable little mouse-hare stared up at him from the snare. 

But this wasn’t a helpless mouse-hair, he wasn’t adorable, and when he got up he was going to start trying to melt the flesh off of Sokka’s bones. Moving as if in a daze he grabbed the man’s hair and pulled his head back, revealing his throat. With a shaking hand he brought his boomerang forward to finish the job. 

But he couldn’t do it. 

He was weak… He couldn’t take this man’s life.

Sokka slowly released his grip when he felt heat and smelled the pungent smell of burning fabric, just before smelling the sickening scent of burnt flesh. 

It was a few seconds before he felt the pain, the horrible, burning pain on his arm. The fire bender whose life he had just spared turned around and burnt him. Falling back Sokka gripped his arm where the man had grabbed him and began burning, the fabric that once covered his arm was charred. The cold wind biting at the fresh burn on Sokka’s bicep, the burn wrapped around the top of his arm, red and blistering.

Sokka screamed out in pain as he dropped his boomerang, the fire bender was on his feet again. The man’s stance changed as he went to finish the job, he wasn’t even going to hesitate to kill Sokka, he felt like an idiot. 

Sokka flinched when the man made a sharp gasping sound as a spear head broke through the bottom of his sternum. Blood splattered onto the ice once again, this time landing at Sokka’s feet. Scooting backwards Sokka’s was scared, his pounding heart was threatening to break through his chest and spill his own blood on the ice. The noise of the battle was fading away as he stared into the eyes of the man whose life he spared, just so he could turn around and burn him.

His once scared amber eyes were clouding over as that spark of life left his body. He fell once again, this time he would not be getting back up. 

One of the Water Tribe men, Ghlan, pulled his spear out of the back of the new dead Fire Nation soldier. He was older than Sokka but only by a few years. He was a non bender like Sokka, but his weapon of choice was a whale bone spear tip. He was a master at his weapon, an excellent marksman when he practiced long range spear throwing. He had dark brown hair, and wore it in a half up wolf tail style with two white beads in a braid by his right ear. His eye color was a soft blue, grey and he had an exceptionally white smile. 

Ghlan reached out and offered Sokka his hand, at this point in the day the sun was moving lower in the western sky and most of the soldiers that emerged from the ship had retreated back or were laying on the floor surrounded by red. Sokka could feel his body trembling as the adrenaline pumped through his veins, he was struggling to catch his breath. 

“It’s alright Sokka, just breathe, in and out. Focus on my voice, in… and out.”

Sokka watched Ghlan take a deep breath in through his nose and an equally long exhale through his mouth. He made it look so easy, like breathing was so second nature. Sokka couldn’t even imagine anything being that easy, everything in his body was tense and life seemed so complicated and difficult. 

How was he supposed to breath like that!?

“Sokka, you need to get control of yourself, more soldiers could be here any moment. We managed to hold off the first wave, but more will be coming, do you understand?”

Sokka felt his head nod, but he didn’t remember giving his body the command. 

How dare his brain tell his head to nod without his permission!? It was utter body mutiny, what was next? Waving without permission? Talking without permission? EATING WITHOUT PERMISSION!? 

Talking to himself seemed to help, his mind relaxed and he finally got control of his breathing. Slowly, the wild feeling of fight or flight left him and he was able to stand up correctly and think straight. 

“Thanks Ghlan, you saved my life.”

The Water Tribe man smiled at him, “well you owe me one, if you see one of those ash makers about to roast me, I expect you to save me.”

“Deal.”

Ghlan looked down at Sokka’s arm and saw the large red mark of bubbling flesh, he had been burnt. Untreated burns were the leading cause of death when encountering a fire bender. Sokka’s burn was enough to worry Ghlan. 

“Sokka, you need to go see a healer about that burn. If you leave it untreated it will become infected and you could possibly lose that arm. Do you know where our healing station is?”

Sokka remembered the map that displayed where everyone was assigned, each person was instructed to memorize their position and places of interest. It had details about where each section's healing stations would be located, where the fallback line was, emergency evacuation routes, and names and position of each man stationed on the wall. 

Sokka thanked Tui and La that he was his father’s son and reading maps was in his blood. He could read a map before he could walk, so memorizing their Chief’s battle plans was easy for him. 

“I remember, should I go now?”

“Yes, hurry, nightfall is coming quickly and the moon is full. We will have the advantage once the ash maker’s beloved sun sets and our moon is revealed. We will need you back in position before that.”

Sokka gave a firm nod as he clutched his now throbbing arm and headed in the direction of the healing station. 

\- - - - - - - - - 

The healing building was… Horrific. Men filled the scattered beds moaning and sobbing as they clutched their burned and lacerated limbs. The smell of burnt flesh was nauseating, the healers had to wear lavender soaked face masks to keep the smell from disrupting their healing. The soft blue glow illuminated from bed to bed as women moved around quickly, but not hastily. 

Sokka stood off to the side with other warriors that were waiting for their turn to see the healer. There was a priority system when entering the healing station, the most life threatening wounds were first and dealt with on the right side of the building followed by the less life threatening on the left side of the building. 

There were 6 beds on each side and a long table in the center filled with bandages, water, herbs, and different varieties of tea. 

The Northern Water Tribe was known for training their women water benders to be healers, putting them through rigorous training for years. Katara disagreed with the idea of women not being allowed to use their bending for combat, she was personally offended by the idea. 

But Sokka could see in this scenario, how beneficial it was to have the women in their element healing the wounded men who were fighting the enemy. Each bender knew their responsibilities and what was expected of them, once the wounded warrior was healed they were expected to head back out into the ice to continue fighting. 

It was an effective system for a city that has not seen a battle in the entire 100 years the world has been at war. That thought alone made Sokka’s stomach turn, how much help they could have provided the South if they had thought to lend out even a handful of their healers and benders. 

He pushed those thoughts out of his mind too. 

Nightfall descended onto the city before Sokka was seen by a healer, the girl had him sit on a fur pelt as she cut the sleeve off his already ruined parka. Her eyes never met his as she diligently worked on repairing the damage to his arm. She pulled water out of the basin and as it began to glow she placed it gently on his bicep. The cool water was soothing to his hot burn, he watched in amazement as the boiled skin was smoothed out and replaced with his tan, unblemished skin. The throbbing pain that was radiating from his arm up into his brain faded and then disappeared. 

“Alright, you should be good to head back out, there are replacement clothing items hanging in the next room over. You may get whatever you need to replace what was burnt. Please be safe and may Tui and La protect you.”

Sokka nodded down at the young woman as she ushered over another injured man to replace Sokka. Slowly he stood and left the awful smelling infirmary. As he passed the severely injured side of the infirmary, his stomach began churning as he saw horrific sized burns that covered the warrior’s bodies. His feet found a faster pace as he practically ran out of the room.

Rummaging through the hanging clothing, he tried not to think about where these items were gathered from. 

Probably dead people, these were probably dead peoples old clothing.

Stop it Sokka. Just get a new coat and get back out there.

His rummaging began to slow down, as he tried on different parkas finding extreme and unbearable flaws in each one. 

The armpits were too tight, he wouldn’t have enough room to throw his boomerang. 

The next one was too short, what if he caught a cold because he wasn’t properly protected?

Arms too long.

Fur collar too itchy.

This one smells… Weird. 

This shade of blue didn’t bring out enough of the blue in his eyes.

“You have been trying on coats in here for a while now.”

Sokka turned to see the healer who helped him just moments ago, or what he felt was just moments ago. Maybe it had been a little longer than he wanted to admit.

“I wouldn’t be here so long if I could find a damn parka that would fit right!”

She smiled at him, her soft blue eyes catching him in his moment of weakness, she saw through him and into the fear that was consuming him from the inside out. Trembling, Sokka held tight to the parka he gripped in his hands, the one that he said he couldn’t wear because of the loose thread.

He just…. Needed more time to find another one.

The healer’s hand reached out and touched the parka he held in his hands, her delicate finger gripping the fabric and tugging it slowly. Sokka let his grip fall, and she took the jacket in her hands holding it open and offering it to him to put back on.

Sokka turned and put one of his arms into the sleeve, followed by the other, the parka slid on and he turned to look at the healer once more. She was still smiling at him, touching his arm in a comforting way and gave his bicep a soft squeeze. 

“I know it’s scary, being out there, fighting the enemy. But we are all thankful to you and the sacrifice you and the other warriors are making to keep our city safe. It's ok to be afraid, it is perfectly normal after an injury to be hesitant to return to the battle field. Just know we all believe in you, and you will come out of this alive.”

Sokka looked at her, blinking and fighting the warmth that tickled the back of his eyes. Warriors don’t cry before a battle, they stay strong and fight through the fear. He smiled at her and nodded, “thank you.” Was all his throat would let him say before the lump threatened to wobble his words into sobs.

Strapping his boomerang strap around his new parka he gave the healer a respectful bow before running out the door and back out onto the ice. It was dark at this point, the light from the full moon cast a silver glow which reflected off the ice. Sokka began moving back towards his station when everything stopped.

The sky began to bleed, a heavy red glow consumed the moon, dropping his world into chaos. Water bending ceased to exist, attacks faltered and the water tribe warriors began to run. Fire Nation soldiers went back on the offensive and the sounds of painful screaming filled the night air. 

Sokka began to panic, was he dead? Did someone kill him when he left the infirmary? 

Of course he would finally pick a stupid parka just to die in it.

His running slowed as he watched a group of fire benders move in on a group of defenseless Water Tribe benders, without their bending they were vulnerable. The soldiers advanced onto the Water Tribe men, backed by a crazy metal tank that Sokka was slightly impressed by.

He would never admit it out loud though. 

One of the benders tried to break away and Sokka watched in horror as the tank spit out a heavy stream of fire crippling the escape attempt and burning the man into ash. His screams were drowned out by the cries of his fellow tribe members. Forced to their knees the Fire Nation seemed to be collecting select prisoners. 

Three men were selected out of the group of seven, no longer eight, and their arms were dragged behind their back as heavy metal cuffs were placed across their wrists. The soldier with the fancy helmet seemed to be the leader as he pointed in the direction of the outer wall and the three, now prisoners, were dragged away. The remaining men on their knees waited for their fate.

Sokka didn’t know how long he was watching the horror unfold before the moon vanished. Darkness covered the world, complete and utter blackness. 

He couldn’t see anything around him, reaching out his trembling arms in front of him, Sokka tried to feel around for anything he could hold onto. Stumbling forward he fell onto the ice, just in time to see the flames break through the darkness. 

Red and orange patches of light began popping up all around him, revealing the terrifying realization that there were hundreds of Fire Nation soldiers all around. All throughout the city fire benders were lighting up the darkness with their evil flames. 

Sokka pulled himself to his knees, watching the men in front of him look confused, they were speaking to each other, trying to make sense out of the senseless situation they were in.

Did someone steal the moon?

Has La abandoned the city? 

Forsaken it’s people the way the North did to the South?

Sokka was lost in his thoughts only to be ripped back into the reality of the world he was living in, the world at war. 

The world on fire. 

The fire bender’s moved into tight formation in front of the kneeling Water Tribe men, their arms extending out, palms flat and facing outward. 

Sokka froze, he knew that certain fire bending position. He has seen enough fire bending destruction and fought against a certain angry pony tail jerk to know what that gesture meant for the men kneeling on the ice. 

Closing his eyes, his fear was confirmed by the smell of burning flesh and the bone chilling screams of death. It only took a couple seconds for the screams to fade into whimpers and finally silence. 

Rise, run, rise, run, move, run, his mind was stuck in a loop. A loop of thought’s begging him to get up, to rise off his knees and run, he needed to run to the spirit oasis and find his sister and Aang. He couldn’t allow anything to happen to Katara and he surely wasn’t going to die out here on his knees. This was a nightmare he needed to wake up from, and the only way he could do that was to find his sister and the Avatar.

When the fire stopped, Sokka was once again plunged into darkness. Now was his chance, he needed to use this blackness as cover to run as fast and as far as he could. Even with his legs threatening to wobble out from under him, and his arms being completely useless as the fear had paralyzed them, he managed to rise to his feet. 

Sokka began moving in the opposite direction of the sadistic violence he just witnessed, phantom pains stinging where his own burn was branded into his skin just hours ago. Stumbling forward, he was either going to manage to successfully find the well hidden spirit oasis in the blackness.

Or he was going to struggle his way into one of the many freezing canals that were elegantly placed throughout the city and drown or freeze to death. He wondered, would freezing to death hurt worse than being burned alive? 

What would be a better story for his father and sister, Sokka burned alive? Or Sokka, froze to death after stumbling into a freezing canal?

Both were startling possibilities of what his future might hold for him, and he wouldn’t even get to kiss Princess Yue. He couldn’t remember the last thing he said to his sister… He wouldn’t even get to see Aang kick the Fire Lord’s ass… He would never get to say goodbye to his dad.

Just as he began to panic, the world started to glow an iridescent blue color, rippling veins through the water as a huge fish monster rose atop the city. Sokka’s mouth dropped as he stood, stunned, watching the massive glowing beast make its way through the ice city, destroying anything in its path. 

Sokka rubbed his eyes, trying to push his senses back to reality and not this spirit world mumbo jumbo he obviously was dreaming up. Instead of things returning to normal he was hit by a moving mass which knocked him off his feet, again. His right shoulder hit the hard ice and he felt his body slide a few feet, he was really getting sick and tired of being thrown down onto the stupid ice.

Frowning, he looked up to see what knocked him over, only to make eye contact with the only fire bender he had met that he hated worse than Prince ponytail. 

Zhao. 

Sokka saw the man’s bright amber eyes flash with recognition when he looked down at Sokka, without missing a beat the massive fire bender reached down and grabbed the teenage Water Tribe boy by the collar of his stupid parka and yanked him to his feet.

“Well if it isn’t the Avatar’s Water Tribe boy, get up, you’re coming with me.”

Sokka was dragged along by Zhao, closing his eyes and wondering if burning to death or drowning were still possible options for his future. Anything would be better than whatever this psycho had in store for him.


	2. The Long Journey

#  Leaving it all Behind

## Chapter 2: The Long Journey

### 

The days following his capture bled together in a frightening and violent blur. Zhao was not gentle as he dragged Sokka onto the Fire Nation cruiser, throwing him down face first into the metal deck commanding his men to ‘put him with the others’. 

Others? There were other Water Tribe prisoners aboard this metal death trap? Why, out of all the stupid Fire Nation ships attacking the Northern Water Tribe, didn’t the giant glowing sea monster destroy Zhao’s fucking ship?

It must be the same dumb Fire Nation luck that followed Prince Zuko and his overweight uncle around, never having to suffer the consequences of their actions. So now Zhao gets to take their people prisoner and sail away unscathed. 

Stupid spirits, sometimes they were completely useless.

He was thrown into the brig with multiple other Water Tribe prisoners, the smell of burnt flesh lingered in the damp, dark hallway. Sokka felt his sense of humor fading fast as his wrists were chained together followed by his ankles. He was thrown into the cell with force, knocking his already throbbing shoulder once again.

They took his parka away, he felt a deep feeling of regret for ever making fun of that beautiful, wonderfully crafted parka he loved. With it’s wonderful loose thread, if only they let him keep it. 

He wouldn’t be so damn cold right now.

The few lanterns they had lit cast an eerie flickering red light into the cell, causing visibility to be limited. Sokka didn’t know how many cells there were below deck, but he knew there were at least a few and all of them seemed to have people inside.

The trembling mass of blue fabric huddled together for warmth as the men prayed to Tui and La for protection from the Fire Nation soldiers who only came down to check on them every few hours. The soldiers never spoke, they only checked the different cells for life and removed anyone who was no longer living. Sokka could hardly keep down the bile that was bubbling in the back of his throat, threatening to spill out onto the floor as he watched the first heap of blueofl blue fabric being pulled down the hallway. 

Dead.

Who knows how many Water Tribe people Zhao had trapped down here, the quiet sobbing and hushed whispering made it impossible to try and gage how many other men were in each cell.

At least he didn’t capture the Avatar, Sokka was sure he would have heard word about Aang being on board from someone if heis he had been. 

Aang, Katara, Yue… Just saying their names to himself brought a deep hurt toin his heart. He had felt that hurt there before, it was right after his mom died and the reality that she was never coming back finally sunk in. The first few days following her death didn’t feel real, but once the tribe went back to their normal day to day responsibilities the reality that his mom was gone hit him hard.

When he woke up in the morning she wasn’t in the kitchen preparing breakfast, Katara was.

When he looked for his favorite trousers and realized they were still in the dirty clothes basket, he knew it was because mom wasn’t there to clean them, so Katara had to.

The first time they ate his favorite food, stewed sea prunes, after mom died, he realized they didn’t taste the same… He knew it was because mom didn’t make them that time, Katara did. 

When he was sharpening his first spear head and the stone slipped and he cut himself, he cried for his mom, who wasn’t there anymore. But Katara came over, and she helped clean the cut and wrap it up. 

Katara was always there for him, even when his mom couldn’t be anymore. Now he was alone, and even worse, Katara was alone. Yes, she had Aang, happy go lucky Avatar Aang.. But he wouldn’t be able to protect her the way Sokka could.

Katara was gone, mom was gone, and the hurt in his heart grew bigger.

Sokka sat alone in the corner of the prison cell, the one that was too small for the six grown men they had shoved in here. Everyone’s hands and ankles were chained together so they each had limited movement. 

Sokka had his knees pulled up to his chest, his arms resting on the top of them as he laid his head on his forearms staring down at the dull metal floor. He watched the dancing red light create little moving shadows on the floor, he did this for most of his time awake.

Sokka couldn’t keep track of the time of day because the soldiers didn’t follow a schedule and the only light provided was the flickering lanterns. The only thing the lanterns did was make their environment look more ‘Fire Nation-y’ with the creepy red hue they emitted in the already too creepy hallway.

The men were hardly given any food, and when food was provided it was only a few stale pieces of bread thrown in the middle of the cell. The soldiers expected them to fight over the limited food supply like animals. But the Water Tribe people were known for sharing everything they had, so the oldest man in the cell was in charge of breaking up the rations fairly. 

The men worked out a good system of sharing their portions of food and water, that is until one morning (at least Sokka assumed it was morning considering he just woke up) soldiers came down the hall, one stopping at each cell.

Pointing at their elder, they opened the cell door and pulled out the oldest Water Tribe man. He wasn’t a gray old man, but in comparison to the other warriors he was considerably older, possibly a little younger than Sokka’s dad.

From the brief words Sokka and him exchanged with one another, mostly saying ‘bread’ or ‘here’ maybe once he said ‘there you go’ – He had seemed really nice.

But that didn’t stop the Fire Nation soldiers from coming in and he was escorted away without a word and never came back.

One of Sokka’s cell mates, a man by the name of Jaiku, asked about their missing cellmate when a soldier brought them their stale bread. 

“Where did you ash makers take Pannok?” 

Sokka winced at the slang ‘ash maker’ while it was a common slur used when describing people from the Fire Nation, it probably wasn’t wise to use it when addressing their captors. Especially when they were already so fucking friendly. 

The soldiers always wore their helmets with their face plate pulled down, so there was no way to track any of the guards. Sokka was desperately trying to track some kind of consistency, the only thing he noticed was one of the guards had a small dent in the side of his helmet. 

But Denty didn’t come to his cell very often, and he didn’t seem any different then the other soldiers who never spoke. So Denty was just another faceless incarcerator and was of no use to Sokka in his silent schemes of escape. 

This particular day they must have had the pleasure of dealing with a rather unfriendly Fire Nation individual. He threw down the bread, stepped on it and then grabbed Jaiku by the collar of his shirt and slammed him into the bars.

Using his gloved hand he repeatedly smashed his fist into the young man’s face until he was unrecognizable. Blood covered his upper body dripping down his face and it began pooling onto the metal floor. Jaiku’s nose was smashed into pieces, and after the soldier dropped him onto the cold metal floor he gave the prisoner a few swift kicks to the gut before leaving the cell. 

He never said a word.

Sokka’s face paled in horror as he watched the man, who’s name he didn’t even want to say, choke on the blood rising in his throat, unable to breathe. Two of the Water Tribe men rushed over, rolling him to his side gently as they tried to help him breathe. Ripping pieces from their tunics, they attempted to do what they could for his injuries.

Within a few minutes of the attack, Jaiku took his last breath. His final moment was a mixture of wheezing, gurgling, and gagging while he choked on his own blood, before he died imprisoned, on the cold floor of a Fire Nation ship. 

Sokka watched the dead man’s body twitch before a red foam broke through his lips, running down his cheek and onto the floor. Just before his blue eyes rolled in the back of his head. It was an awful way to die Sokka decided, he would rather be burnt or drowned, if only he had just died back in the ice city.

Sokka’s breathing became erratic when he realized that he was only seconds away from asking the same question that Jaiku died for. If he had spoken, it would be his dead body beaten and bloody. He did a lot of talking usually, that was obviously not a good thing to do in this murder ship.

His arms trembled uncontrollably, holding his body in a tight ball he tried to remember to control his breathing. In through the nose, out through the mouth. That’s the advice he was given, too bad it was polar dog shit advice and it didn’t fucking work.

He felt the rush of panic thumping through his veins as static energy filled his ear drums, drowning out any of his thoughts. His eyes began to sting, squeezing them shut, light spots danced under his eyelids, mocking him for being such a weak excuse of a warrior.

Is this what being terrified felt like?

Was he going to die on this ship, his last meal being stale bread that some Fire Nation asshole stepped on?

Did Katara and Aang even think he was alive?

Would they come looking for him?

How would they even begin to try to find him?

What would they tell his dad?

He heard a loud sob, as he looked up to see who it came from, he heard it again and he realized the sound was coming from deep inside of his own throat. Taking a few deep breaths he stifled the sobs and focused on keeping himself invisible and silent. 

He needed to survive long enough to come up with a plan of escape. If he didn’t do something soon everyone was going to die.

He was the plan guy, he could still make it out of here alive, he just had to focus.

—————————————————

It took too long for someone to come and remove the dead body out of their cell. Maybe it was their way of sending a message, or maybe the Fire Nation just didn’t give a fuck. It was probably the latter.

Sokka spent all his free time trying to notice any details about their surroundings that would help him escape. 

So far he had a whole pile of nothing. There were no windows, so he couldn’t track the time of day. The soldiers didn’t follow any particular feeding schedule, and everyone was growing weaker with lack of proper food and water rationing. The elders of each cell were taken away, assuming to have been murdered, leaving less civil order in between cellmates as desperation began setting in.

So far he didn’t see any water benders on board, at least no one in his cell was a water bender. He could really use some of their magic water shenanigans for his plan. 

Well, whenever he came up with a plan. 

It would be easier to come up with a plan if he had a water bender, that was a definite.

For now, they were stuck, at least until the ship arrived at whatever destination they were headed to; hopefully not the Fire Nation. Sokka felt a gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach, deeper than the dull ache from lack of nutrients. He was afraid that most of these men wouldn’t survive this trip from hell, selfishly, he was more afraid that _he_ might not make it to wherever they were headed.

What was keeping that psycho Fire Nation person from coming back to their cell and beating another person to death? 

What if they decided to stop feeding them all together? (Not like the moldy pieces of bread were providing any real nutrition.) 

But the food did tell the hungry voice in his head to shut up for a while, and it seemed to settle the hungry feeling that was clawing at his stomach lining. At least for a short period of time.

He couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to just stop eating all together.

Oh how he missed meat, if he was ever given the chance to eat meat again he was sure it would be the most glorious moment in the entire world. Maybe even more glorious than when Suki kissed him, but possibly not as glorious as if Yue ever kissed him.

Yue or meat… That was a hard choice.

Why was he making himself choose between a beautiful woman and equally beautiful meat? He was going to have both damn it! 

Sokka convinced himself he was going crazy, comparing women and meat, the hunger was starting to make him delusional. His crazy thoughts that weren’t coherent were silenced by the sound of heavy footsteps in the hallway, headed in their direction. 

Sokka’s eyes peeked out from under his arms when the clanging metal sound indicated that the door was being opened. Three armored men came into his cell and started tugging on the arms of the hunched over men. 

“Get up, lets go.” 

First words spoken to them from the Fire Nation soldiers since being incarcerated, they were about as kind and gentle as Sokka expected them to be.

Slowly the three men began to stir, they struggled to lift their weak bodies into a standing position, even with the guards hoisting them up. One of the weaker men stumbled and fell, only to receive a few swift kicks to his ribs from a pointed Fire Nation boot. 

The Water Tribe man gasped for air as the soldier reached back down, this time snatching the man up by his hair. With a firm grip on the man’s long wolf's tail, he was lifted back to his feet, a small trail of blood dripping from his hairline down his forehead and over his right eye. He was shoved in line with the others without a word spoken. 

Sokka rushed to his feet as one of the menacing soldiers approached him, moving as quickly as he could with his ankles chained, he staggered in line as they left the cell. 

No need to get grabby or punchy. He would follow their directions just fine without any unnecessary force. He wanted to say, but definitely did not. He kept his mouth shut tight.

——————————————

Apparently all the cells were being emptied and the entire group of prisoners were being escorted up onto the deck. Sokka began making a mental list of all the information he could gather from being out of his cell.

What direction he would need to run if he were to break out of his cell.

The position of the stars, so he could figure out which direction they were headed. 

Where the lifeboats were on deck so he could possibly steal one.

How many soldiers were stationed on deck and where they were posted. 

How many Water Tribe captives there were and if any of them appeared to be water benders.

His mental list was cut off when the blinding light from the sun attacked his eyes, dropping his head down he squeezed his eyes closed as the sharp pain from the light sensitivity dulled.

Blinking, Sokka was able to coax his eyes to open back up, not wanting to waste any more of this valuable time to take in his surroundings. His vision was blurred from the blinding light that the sun, apparently, always emitted during the day. Was it always this bright?! 

Stupid sun, and stupid Fire Nation for worshiping the stupid sun. Why was everything working against him at all moments!?

“Stop. Kneel.”

Kneel?

Sokka tried to swallow the rather inconvenient lump that liked to wedge itself in his throat when he was scared. Dehydration caused his throat to do whatever it wanted, without any moisture he was powerless against the throat lump.

A heavy hand shoved the back of his shoulders rather hard, pushing his body into a kneeling position. His knees hit the metal floor hard enough to make his teeth rattle, lucky, he was still allowed to keep his pants so the force didn’t skin his knees. 

Glancing to his left and then to his right, he saw a number of other Water Tribe men, all dressed proudly in blue. A few of them even held their heads high as if to display their lack of fear for the Fire Nation. 

Sokka did a quick count and including himself there were 23 men that were captured, they must have all come from the battle on out on the ice because they all wore warriors attire. There were no women taken prisoner so that was something positive. He was sure that if the glowing fish monster didn’t show up, they might not have been as lucky. 

The group kneeled in silence for a while until the sound of heavy marching feet made their way across the metal deck. Three sets of feet stood in front of the group, Sokka was afraid to look up, even though he was fully aware of who was standing in front of them.

“Good afternoon Water Tribe savages, for those that do not know who I am, my name is Admiral Zhao. You have the pleasure of being guests on my ship. I’m sure you have questions and because I consider myself a compassionate man I will allow you to ask them in an orderly fashion.”

Sokka finally looked up, his eyes moved slowly towards the source of the voice, doing his best not to draw any extra attention to himself.

Zhao was a tall, strong man as he stood in his arrogance with his arms crossed over his gold and red chest plate. His armor was fancier then the black and red armor Prince Zuko wore, Zhao’s armor was flashy and had gold trimming. The shoulder pieces stuck out on the sides and he wore a red cape that was fluttering ever so gently in the soft breeze. The entire get up looked heavy, and if someone were to push Zhao into the ocean he would probably sink like a rock. 

But if someone were stupid enough to do that, with at least 15 Fire Nation soldiers (that Sokka could visually count) standing around them, they would burn him to a crisp before Zhao’s side burns even if the water. 

“Where are you taking us?”

Sokka peered down the line to see one of the oldest Water Tribe prisoners holding his head high as his deep voice asked his question.

Zhao smirked, “some of you will be headed to the Pohaui Stronghold, and a select few of you will going to a more discreet Fire Nation prison camp.”

The same man kept talking, “What are you planning to do with us once we get to the Pohaui Stronghold?” 

Zhao chuckled, “assuming you will be one of the lucky few that has the privilege of going to the stronghold, then you and whoever else will be interrogated for information and once you are no longer useful you will be disposed of.” 

Sokka’s limbs felt colder in the sun than they did below deck in the dark. At least in his cell he had been unaware of their fate, left guessing what the future might hold. Now he knew, and it was a frightening future, one filled with promises of pain and suffering. 

He was a ‘friend of the Avatar’ who knows what type fo torture they would use to extract information from him about Aang. He wouldn’t tell them anything, they would be forced to kill him, but after how long? How long would his body hold up against the pain? The cold fear was consuming him, creeping into his chest and causing his heart to beat faster to try and stop it from freezing. 

Sokka’s eyes shifted back to the floor as he practiced the stupid nose, mouth breathing technique again. He could not afford to freak out on the deck in front of Zhao and bring any extra attention to himself, he still needed to come up with a plan to escape.

A hushed mummer broke out around the Water Tribe men, before a blast of fire in the air silenced the group. Zhao lowered his fist, his amber eyes glaring at the group of men restrained on their knees.

“I know you people were born savages, and it is hard for you to understand the concept of keeping order, but if you can not act civilized then I will not allow you to ask any more questions. Do I make myself clear?”

No one said anything, until the man who was apparently in charge of asking the questions spoke again. 

“How will you decide who goes to the stronghold and who does not?”

“I will decide once this conversation is over.”

“What will happen to those of us that do not go to the Pohaui Stronghold?” 

“That is to be determined.”

“You mentioned another discreet prison camp? How will you decide who will go there?”

“I have already decided that.”

Another, much younger Water Tribe man spoke up this time, “isn’t the Pohaui Stronghold the prison the Avatar broke out of?”

Sokka felt his hear sink in his chest, not only was that a stupid thing to ask a mad man like Zhao, but he knew that was not true. Aang was never incarcerated, especially not in a scary Fire Nation prison. 

Zhao’s face stayed relatively neutral, but Sokka saw the slight hint of annoyance twitch in the Admirals right eye, which led Sokka to believe that… maybe… Aang was captured before? How would something as serious as being captured by the Fire Nation and locked away in one of their prisons go unnoticed?! Sokka has been with the kid since he came out of the ice for spirits sake! 

“The Avatar did not _escape_ out of his prison, he was broken out by a skilled swordsman who specializes in stealth. He would never have escaped without this person's help.”

Yep, Zhao was bitter about this, his right eye twitched the entire time he spoke and his eyebrows narrowed a little more than normal as he fought with his anger. 

Why wouldn’t Aang tell him about the time he was captured by Zhao and held prisoner and then released by a stealth swordsman!? It was exactly the kind of story Sokka lived for. 

“I heard it was the Blue Spirit, he set the Avatar free.”

Zhao’s right eye twitched, hard, and his face turned an interesting shade of red. His fist clenched into a tight fist as a small burst of flame hit the floor, causing a few of the Water Tribe men to flinch back. 

“I do not know where you savages think you are right now, but I can assure you that you are not at home sitting around your primitive fire pit telling stories. You are prisoners aboard my ship and just so we are clear, that _traitor_ the Blue Spirit, as you call him, was apprehended after releasing the Avatar and was put to death.”

A few men made a gasping noise, and Sokka was growing increasingly frustrated that he was never informed about this Blue Spirit, which was an exceptionally cool name. Or that Aang was apparently best friends with the guy, so much so that he would break into a prison single handed to break Aang out. If Sokka ever got off this murder ship he was going to have a serious conversation with Aang about secrets. 

The same stupid Water Tribe man, that was apparently dead set on making Zhao angry. Decided to open his dumb mouth again about Zhao’s very obvious arch nemesis the Blue Spirit.

“Traitor? Does that mean the Blue Spirit is Fire Nation?”

Zhao smirked this time, “he _was_ Fire Nation. The Blue Spirit is dead, I killed him personally. Now, are there any other questions, not pertaining to the dead Blue Spirit, before we move onto the next matter of business? I am growing impatient.”

Zhao made a head motion towards the young man who kept asking about the Blue Spirit, and one of the many masked Fire Nation soldiers grabbed the kneeling big mouth by his arms and pulled him towards Zhao. The inquisitive Water Tribe man shook in fear as Zhao stood only a few feet away. 

“Since you want to talk about the Blue Spirit so much, and find the entire traitorous situation so fascinating, I am going to give you the opportunity to talk to him in person. You would like that wouldn’t you?” 

It took Sokka far too long to catch onto what Zhao was insinuating, as he watched Zhao give his soldiers a nod and they dragged the restrained man to the edge of the deck and tossed him overboard without a second thought. 

The group of men gasped, a few cried out, but no one did anything to try and stop it from happening. The faint sound of his body hitting the water was the last thing they heard, hardly audible over the roar of the waves crashing against the ship as it sailed forward. 

Zhao didn’t even look back to watch the body being tossed overboard, his eyes were filled with amusement as he scanned the line of terrified men. When Sokka saw Zhao’s eyes moving toward him, he tucked his chin under and shifted his gaze back to the floor, hoping to hide from recognition. 

“Now that we have taken care of that little nuisance, any more questions? Hopefully there is no one else still curious about the Blue Spirit, I would be more than happy to allow any of you to join him. If not I would like to move on to the next matter of business.” 

A new Water Tribe man spoke this time, “what happened to the Northern Water Tribe? The last thing I remember was the moon vanished.”

Zhao’s smirk disappeared as his brow furrowed, “the moon spirit was killed-“

Shouting from the Water Tribe men erupted, Zhao shot a stream of fire just over their heads, singeing a few stray hairs as it sailed overhead. That made the men shut their mouths almost instantly. 

Clearing his throat, Zhao stood up straighter. “The moon spirit was killed, and somehow the Avatar was able to revive it. So don’t worry, your precious people have their moon back, too bad most of you will never see it again.”

The Water Tribe men were silent, Sokka knew there had to be more questions but everyone was probably just as eager as he was to find out what Zhao meant by ‘next matter of business’.

“Now that you people have no more questions, we can finally move on. We are sailing through the western Earth Kingdom waters right now and we are only a few days from making port. With that being said, unfortunately for you, there is not enough room in the stronghold for all 23- oops, 22 of you. So we will need to trim the fat, only 10 of you will be making it to port, the rest of you, well… I’m sure you know where I am going with this.

“I consider myself a man of justice, I believe a punishment should fit the crime. In my eyes, all of you have committed the same crime of being dirty savages who dared to raise a weapon against the all mighty Fire Nation. That crime alone is deserving of death. Now, I am providing a chance of mercy for those of you who go to the Pohaui Stronghold, but only for 10 of you. I will allow you to decide amongst yourselves on who will go and who will die here today. I am running out of bread, so only 10 of you will be walking off this deck today. I will give you a few minutes to decide.”

Zhao places his arms behind his back before walking away, his head held high and an evil smirk on his face. Sokka knew that the fake compassion he was showing when answering questions, and using the word ‘mercy’ was just leading to this, where they would have to pick and choose who would live and who would die. 

The men began talking to each other, some of them began yelling, while others tried to keep the peace. It was apparent that lack of food and water, plus the idea of 12 men being put to death in a few minutes, was causing a lot of stress. 

“I think we should see if anyone volunteers-“

“-well do any of you want to die today?”

“-we shouldn’t be-“

“How do you expect us-“

Sokka tuned the conversation out, he wasn’t sure what conclusion they could come to in ten minutes that would be fair. There was no right way to decide if someone was going to die, especially in such a fucked up demonstration of power. Zhao could keep feeding them, even if he ran out of bread, what about real food?

Maybe some rice? 

There were other options, and with Zhao’s positions and obvious need to flex his power, there had to be room in the Pohaui Stronghold for all of the Water Tribe men. He was only doing this to them so he could bask in the high he got from other people’s suffering. 

It was apparent how sensitive he was about appearing weak, based on how he reacted to one man breaking Aang out of this so-called secure Fire Nation prison, he did not like looking like a fool. Now Water Tribe prisoners were going to die to feed Zhao’s insatiable ego. The whole situation made Sokka sick, well, sicker than he already felt. 

Sokka only began listening again after Zhao returned to his position in front of them, his arms still positioned behind his back, the annoying smirk displayed across his face. Spirits, Sokka wanted to smack the shit out of him. 

“So what did you decide?”

The man who did most of the question asking spoke up, Sokka decided to call his Chief Prisoner. 

“We have a few men who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the lives of the other prisoners, all that I ask is that we are able to pray to Tui and La for a safe journey to the other side.”

Zhao scoffed before waving his hand in a dismissive gesture, urging them to hurry it up. 

Sokka half listened to the older men say a blessing for the moon and ocean spirits to guide those who were sacrificing their lives. Sokka found the blessing frustrating because right now he didn’t believe in spirits actually helping his people. He had witnessed too much death in the past couple of days or weeks, to believe anything was going to magically come and save them.

He was going to count on himself and strategy to escape, not spirits. Because honestly when they did intervene they failed to destroy the main fucking Fire Nation ship and also failed to kill the main fucking evil Fire Nation guy. Those seemed like two pretty large fuck ups on the giant fish monsters part.

“- On this red road laid out for me I will not and refuse to stray, for in each and every passing day I will keep my heart to the sky and hold my head up high, for today is a good day to die.”

Sokka caught the last few lines of the blessing. _Today is a good day to die_ \- No today was not a good day to die, today was a good day to figure out how to get the fuck out of here.

“Alright, alright, now that your stupid chant is over those who are dying today please stand so my men can throw you into your precious ocean.” Zhao’s voice was cold, he didn’t spare a hint of emotion towards the death of these people. In fact, his tone sounded humored, in a mocking way.

Sokka watched as 6 men stood proud with their chins held high and their faces neutral in their final moments. One by one they were escorted to the edge of the ship, wrists and ankles still bound together, ensuring they would surely drown. The soldiers threw each man into the ocean, one by one they went over without a word. 

Zhao smirked as he watched the brave warriors fall to their death, turning back to the group and chuckled. “I know it might be confusing, all these numbers and such. But I only counted 6 men just now, I believe I asked for 10. Do I need to do the honor and hand pick the rest?”

No one said anything, the only sound was the churning ocean slapping against the sides of the metal ship. Sokka’s throat felt dry, as the notorious lump wiggled its way back in, causing his breathing to come in short struggling gasps. 

He might just drown after all. 

When no one said anything as Zhao took a slow, calculated step forward, pointing at one man and then a second, finally a third, until he stood in front of Sokka. 

There was a tense air between them as time seemed to stop when Zhao stood in front of the panicked boy kneeling on the floor. He reached out and grabbed Sokka by the front of his tunic, hoisting him up so he was standing on his feet. 

Sokka didn’t know his heart could beat this fast, if his beating heart was to race a polar dog puppy right now his heart would give that pup a run for its dinner. The beating was so fast the fear of it breaking through his chest was becoming just as real of a threat as being thrown overboard. 

Sokka’s eyes shifted up until the blue met amber, thinking of his mom’s lesson, he saw nothing but pure evil in this man’s eyes. The flames danced in the speaks of gold in Zhao’s eyes, he looked at Sokka with malicious intent. 

“Avatar’s friend, don’t worry you won’t be dying today, consider yourself one of my _special prisoners_. You will be joining me at my personal prison camp, but don’t worry, you will wish you died here today after I’m done with you.”

Sokka’s throat closed, holding his breath the pounding in his chest drowned out all the noise around him. Zhao released his grip and moved away, selecting his final victim.

Sokka was still stuck in place, he watched the last prisoner tossed over the railing to their death. Sokka didn’t move when the rest of the prisoners were shuffled to their feet. The world seemed too bright, the pounding in his ears was too loud, he couldn’t breath because his throat was closed.

Someone was yelling at him, two Fire Nation soldiers approached him. He felt the pain on his arm, the searing heat must have melted his flesh where the man grabbed him, shoving him forward. Sokka fell to the ground, the pounding was growing faster and louder, closing his eyes he tried to breath. 

Nose, mouth, nose, mouth, breathe, in and out, in and out…. He chanted that lie like a mantra until everything went black.

—————————————

When Sokka finally stirred, he felt the pounding in his head before his eyes were even open. Afraid to look, he felt out his other senses before opening his eyes. It smelled like burnt flesh and mildew, the air was musty and humid, the slight tilting of the floor indicated they were still on the ship.

Sokka was laying on freezing metal, his body must have instinctively curled up for warmth because he noticed his arms and knees were tucked into his core. Cold, he was so cold, his skin was littered with goosebumps and his jaw was tight from clenching it too tight when he was struggling to stay warm.

Finally, he opened his eyes. Every slow moving blink was painful as his blurry vision recognized the sinister red glow almost imminently. He was back in his cell, his wrists and ankles still chained, slowly he moved himself into a sitting position. 

Sokka’s body was stiff and painful, he wondered how long he was laying on the floor struggling for warmth. It took him too long to realized that he was alone in his cell. 

Panic set in, the rise and fall of his chest sending sharp pains radiating through his body, where did everyone go? Did all he men in his cell die? 

The pain in his chest indicated some kind of injury, moving his hands up he pulled on the side of his tunics, moving the fabric down so he could look at his skin. He regretted looking, the large dark bruises covered his chest. 

Painful purples and pinks, resembling little rain clouds, extended over the right side of his chest, slipping down onto his ribcage. Someone had beat the shit out of him, but considering the fact he was unconscious and the clustered bruising, it looked as if he had been repeatedly kicked. 

That would made the most sense, if he was unconscious laying on the ground, kicking him would be the most effective way to injure him. Sokka groaned, running his shaking fingers through his greasy hair as the messy strands dangled in his vision. He felt itchy, rubbing his face, he brought his hands down, palms facing up, he saw the streaks of dirt crusted into the creases of his hands.

He wondered the last time he had a decent bath, it must have been right before the battle, he wanted to look his best in case he ran into Princess Yue. His mind skipped to the thoughts of the beautiful Princess and her crystal blue eyes, her deep eyes were always full of kindness and understanding. Her perfectly tan skin fading into a soft kissable pink color as her lips pulled into a sweet smile. 

Her hair, the wonderful white color, was always so carefully done to make sure not a single hair was out of place, signifying her important position in the tribe. Most of all he missed her voice, the way she carefully spoke as if every word was being scrutinized by someone lurking in the shadows. Her timid laugh, oh... how Sokka longed to make her laugh, almost embarrassing himself in the process.

Scoffing, Sokka knew he needed to let the delusion that he would ever see Princess Yue again fade away. The look in Zhao’s eyes haunted him, imagining the angry fire consuming him as he helplessly sat on his knees. 

Before his thoughts could get too dark he heard the familiar sound of hard boots marching against metal flooring. The sound sent phantom pains thumping through his bruised chest. Looking up from where he was seated on the floor in the middle of the his disgusting cell Sokka’s eyes met with cruel amber eyes. 

“Good morning Avatar’s friend, we have arrived at our destination. I hope you feel well rested we have a bit of a journey before we get to your new home.” Zhao’s voice dripped with sadistic amusement. He seemed to draw excitement out of mental torture, dangling the idea of pain and suffering just out of reach. Laughing as he watched the fear flash in his victims eyes, knowing that he was the cause of that fear. 

Sokka swallowed, the light trail of saliva running down his exceptionally parched throat, giving him no relief. More than anything he wanted to correct Zhao, to stand on his feet and crack a funny side burn joke and remind the fucker his name was Sokka not Avatar’s friend. 

But the fear of relation kept him firmly seated where he was, that is until Zhao’s men walked into his cell grabbing him roughly on both sides of his arms and pulled his aching body to his feet. Legs trembling Sokka was forcibly dragged down the hallway his feet stumbling to find his footing. 

No words were spoken as they pulled him up the stairs, his foot caught one of the steps and he was able to gathering his bearings putting weight on his trembling legs. The light from the deck was blinding again, spots danced in his vision as he forced himself to blink away the pain.

He needed to see where he was going, he had to escape before Zhao locked him away in his creepy ‘discreet prison’ which Sokka was convinced meant tying him up in his personal closet and using him as a human punching bag whenever he felt like it. 

Sokka’s blue eyes focused on the shoreline, tears pricked the back of his eyes at the beautiful sight of land. The shoreline gave him hope, there was a certain security in knowing that if he was able to break free from his captors there was a direction he could run. 

Shuddering, he tried not to think of the chained up Water Tribe men being plunged over the side of the railing, their bodies smacking against the freezing water before they sunk to their death.

“Where… are we?” Sokka didn’t even recognize his broken raspy voice. The words clawed their way out of his dry throat, his mouth equally as dry not able to spare anymore saliva to sooth the burning. 

Zhao turned back to look at him, standing at the edge of the ramp the two Fire Nation soldiers held him tight, Sokka glanced up to see a familiar helmet.

“Denty…” he whispered. Zhao gave him a confused look, raising one of his bushy eyebrows before his face returned to its normal signature Fire Nation pissed off look.

Were Fire Nation men trained to look angry?

Was it part of their version of warrior training? 

‘In order to be pat of the Fire Nation army you must always keep your face set in an angry expression. Brows furrowed like this, mouth set in a thin disapproving line, and don’t you dare EVER smile!’

Sokka let out a humors exhale of air, too dry and tired to laugh. 

“We are going to be transporting you to your new home, and after you are cleaned up you and I will be having a little… chat. You are going to tell me everything you know about the Avatar and where he is headed next. If you fail to provide me with the information I require, well… lets just hope you don’t disappoint me.”

The cold feeling returned to his chest, tingling its way down his arms as he was dragged down the ship’s ramp and loaded into the back of a metal box. There was no visibility so Sokka would have no idea where he was going and he wouldn’t be able to try and track his whereabouts. There was a small eye slit in the door that allowed a sliver of light to penetrate through the box. 

Curling into a painful ball, his chains ratted around his wrist and ankles, irritating the already tender flesh. He was lucky that he was wearing pants so his ankles were not rubbed raw yet, but his wrists were an entirely different story. He didn’t have to move around much in his cell so the skin was not broken yet but the flesh was irritated and stung when the cool metal rubbed too hard.

Closing his eyes he tired to push his mind into the memories of Katara’s smile, and his dad’s booming laughter, Aang’s excitement as he floated around on his air scooter and most of all he thought of Yue’s sparkling eyes and soft voice. 

No matter what horrors were waiting for him at his destination, there wasn’t anything they could do to him to make him forget his family and friends. They would be with him always, and he wouldn’t stop until he returned back to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why hello there!
> 
> Thank you for taking the time to read, and even better - thank you for taking the time to drop a kudo and a comment ;) (but seriously, comment. I want to hear from you) 
> 
> So I posted chapter 2 and I’m starting chapter 3 so we are doing this thing! This story is happening. Ohhh yeaaahhhh! 
> 
> I just wanted to go ahead and put a few things out there, just in case people point it out in the future. I rated the fic Mature for obvious graphic violence and put that warning out there. I also tagged some other warnings that will be in the future. 
> 
> I am sorry if it upsets anyone but I will not be posting trigger warnings every single chapter, I just don’t feel its necessary. IM SORRY if it bothers anyone because I love you all and I don't want to make anyone upset. :(
> 
> I will add any tags if I need to in the summary part of the story if I missed anything, but I don't want to re write triggers for each chapter. Its a dark themed story so shit will be going down every single chapter. I will change the rating to explicit if things get... raunchy... in the future, but for now we are just going to stick with mature! 
> 
> I will also be putting any specific songs I was listening to on repeat when writing a chapter, so thats just going to happen. Listen, or don’t... Its up to you, but I’m going to do it. You can’t stop me. 
> 
> I also write big chapters, I don’t understand why that would be a problem to people... But I have seen the complaints. I’m just the type of person who wants to accomplish something when I post a chapter and even if I tried to write a 3k chapter it would be impossible for me. So thats another thing to add to the list of things you either love about my style or hate about it. 
> 
> Either way, I love you. <3 
> 
> I hope you guys are enjoying everything so far, please let me know your thoughts. Your comments fuel my fire and I am so happy I can do something to you that brings you joy. And if I am not bringing you joy... oops, I’m sorry.
> 
> So Sokka is on his way to Zhao’s prison camp and he finally made it off the murder ship! Yay! But he will probably wish he stayed on it, just saying. Buckle up Avatar’s friend! 
> 
> Love you all! <3


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